NEW MEXICO POTTERY

New Mexico pottery...well...even if you don't want to own it, you must admit it is very beautiful...

...especially when you think about the talented hands that sculpted the clay taken from the earth and baked in the sun or fire side kiln.

Maria Martinez

Of Tewa heritage of the San Ildefonso Pueblo in the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico, Maria Martinez became world-renowned for her black-on-black pottery

Andreita Gonzales (8)

Barbara's granddaughter and Maria's great granddaughter

this is a little pinch pot we bought from her family's studio on her reservation

we purchased it for Betty (10) in case some day Andrieta is as famous as her great grandmother

In a recent art class of my 8 year olds, we water-colored a pot by 

Maria Martinez

this belongs to Betty and is hanging in her home...she was 8 when she painted it

I think kid's art is so naïve...I just love it

San Ildefonso Pottery

San Ildefonso Pueblo New Mexico

Saint Ildefonso

what a great adventure to visit the reservations and see their wares
most of them are excited for you to visit their homes, but you must check in and you must follow their rules and honor their privacy

Angels Baker and Café

we walked in to grab some lunch and I spied a pot that was sitting dangerously close to the edge of the shelf.  I asked our waiter if it could come live at our house...(was it for sale?)  He went to a lot of trouble to contact the owner of the Café and make arrangements for us to purchase it, pack it up and take care of our lunch all at the same time!

The owner of the Café worked with Sanford Besser, a well-known collector in Santa Fe.  This is where the pottery came from.

Sanford Besser

Zuni

Zuni Pueblo Pottery

these are part of our small collection...the owl was an estate sale find and the story teller a gift from my mother

this is the pottery that came to live at our house!

It never hurts to ask if something is for sale...you might just take home a treasure!

GEORGIA O'KEEFE

On our recent backroads trip through New Mexico

we did a thing we have never done but always wanted to do

we took a few days to learn more about this Iconic American Artist

Georgia O'Keefe

spent her last years in

Abiquiu, New Mexico

and at her home at the 

The Ghost Ranch

she was born in Wisconsin 

she taught art in the Amarillo schools system and later at West Texas A&M University

I find her gloriously beautiful

her home in Abiquiu is now a historic landmark and one of the most amazing places I have been in my life.  Since our return...I cannot read enough about her or look at photos of her and her home

She died in 1986 at the age of 98 and her home is exactly as it was the day she left to go to the hospital in Santa Fe, where she later died.

Her estate was worth 70 million dollars, yet the favorite things in her home were rocks and bones

she was a minimalist

while I am not all that crazy about her art, I am 100% crazy about her

she is fascinating to learn about

she married 

Alfred Stieglitz

our tour guide told us that after his death she was never intimate with anyone ever again

many believe she was a lesbian, but he assured us there was absolutely no evidence of this 

I am so intrigued with a person who says

I will love only you until death

and mean it

she lived alone in New Mexico for many many years loving him only

how tragic and bold and soulful and refreshing 

to love so deeply that being alone is righteous

 she loved the earth and sky 

everywhere you looked...she collected rocks

rocks and rocks and rocks

and rocks

her window sills were filled with rocks

this is the view from her bedroom window

her bedroom had a bed and a table and a chair and a lamp

this is 

Pedernal

she painted this mountain over and over and over

she said that if she painted it enough God would give it to her

she painted the same things over and over in different ways

this is the door that caused her to purchase this home

she bought her lifelong home because of a door

this is a painting of a road she could see from her bedroom

our guide (he's an art professor) is from the family that took care of her in her later years

he was also very inspiring and I believed he knows her very well from old stories and study

a simple way to make shade in the hot New Mexico sun

her simple way of life is something I keep thinking of

our guide told us the day before there were HGTV hosts on his tour,  and they remarked how she was living vogue before it was vogue...bulb hanging from the wire vogue

I adore my  man...I always have to chuckle at his bright vacation clothes

I guess he gets tired of dark work suits and lets it go...he's like a desert flower or a little yellow bird

I think if Georgia could see him from her window...she would paint him

SEPTEMBER BACKROADS

Each year my man has 40 vacation days

He seldom uses 10

This September he had planned to attend a conference in Quebec City

plans, tours, classes, dinner reservations....

when we went to book our seats the day before we were to leave...

CANCELLED

our international flights began in Houston and due to HARVEY

all things changed

10 days...what to do now?

PLAN B

(is always my Plan A)

a drive to our neighboring Land of Enchantment

only this time we would do things we have not done before

BACKROADS

Looking for FENN'S TREASURE

have you heard of it?

one of us was convinced it was in 

OJO CALIENTE 

The Native Indians have been coming to these healing waters for hundreds of years

(you can always tell a Texan by the swim trunks he wears)

Z.E.N.

a drive to Bandelier National Monument to hike through the cliff dwellings

The Lavender Farm

(you can always tell a Texan by the way he holds his zen rake)

we stopped at lots of old mission churches on several Indian Reservations

.MONASTERY OF CHRIST IN THE DESERT

this is, in real life,

the.middle.of.no.where.

the monks grow hops and make beer

My favorite place of all that I am now slightly obsessed with

she deserves further study!

I absolutely love the southwest

I love Oklahoma, New Mexico and of course Texas

if you are into seeking peace and beauty...these areas are for you

full of soul and

wide open*wide open*wide open

ps...Fenn's Treasure is still out there!

HE CALLED ME POPPY

He's not quite 2...his 2nd birthday is late February

Just the other day, out of the clear blue sky, as plain as day, he called me

POPPY

many many years ago, before Grace ever even considered children, I had a dream that she had a little boy who called me
POPPY

but before that....

there were two precious little girls who call me POPPY...one is 9 and one is 3

and another young lady that came into my life when her daddy married my Grace--she calls me POPPY too

what a lesson in life and prayer and wishes and dreams and answers and plans and timing

now another one who will call me POPPY in a couple of years

MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS

I hope the things you whisper in Santa's ear

and dream sweet dreams of

and speak to God about when you are on your knees

happen

and I hope you can know what I knew that day...when

out of the clear blue sky

~*~

as plain as day

~*~

he called me

~*~

POPPY

THE DRESS THE TREE THE SEASON

each year I decorate my main tree and am always filled with affection when I hang this ornament of my mother.  I think she's 5 here and I am also amazed at how many of her grandchildren look just like her

December 10 she will turn 82

does it amaze you when you can see the exact same face in a 5 year old as you can in an 80 year old?

December 4 we baptized our 4th grandchild in Lubbock Texas

he was the fourth one to wear this heirloom gown

even though it is very feminine, our children decided long ago that their children would all wear it

good job for the dads of sons who went along with that tradition

Betty Beatrice was the 1st 9 years ago December 7

Polk Street Methodist Church in Amarillo

she was still able to wear it on this day

today she is so tall and skinny, it might still fit her

next came sweet Perrilyn Hazel on December 13, 2013

Polk Street Methodist Church in Amarillo

Henry August December  15, 2014

He might have to overcome this photo in his senior slideshow presentation

and when he's president the country will all say...

awwwwwwww

Coach Been never missed a beat when his Everett Gruver donned the dress

December 16, 2016

First United Methodist Church Lubbock Texas

Tradition

there is a lot to be said for it

I so hope you and your family are hanging on to all the fun and wonderful things you have always done that make your family unique and special

and I hope your season if filled with blessings overflowing!